Despite the announcement last week that Canada’s border barriers would ease beginning Feb. 28, Air Canada’s chief executive says “more needs to be done” ¬– specifically ending all pre-departure COVID-19 testing rules.

“If bars and large public events can reopen at full capacity, and some provinces such as Quebec and Ontario can put an end to the vaccination passport, there is no reason to single out travel,” said Michael Rousseau.

Last Tuesday, the federal health minister said Canada would lift its blanket travel advisory and the requirement for pre-departure COVID-19 molecular testing at the end of February, though potentially cheaper and easier-to-access rapid antigen tests will be mandatory.

Rousseau’s demand for lighter restrictions came as quarterly financial results showed Air Canada exceeding expectations, but still losing $493 million in Q4, 2021.

“We were seeing strong growth before omicron hit. Then it was almost a very quiet period for a month, month-and-a-half, with a lot of cancellations,” Rousseau told analysts Friday. “But over the last month or so, we have started seeing strong growth, strong momentum in bookings.”

The country’s largest airline cancelled 36% percent of its January flights, based on the number scheduled in mid-October. By Jan. 28 it had nixed nearly half of its February flights, according to flight data firm Cirium. As of late last month, more than 43,300 trips had been scrapped in the first two months of 2022.

Corporate travel – a key market that yields high profit margins for carriers – also continues to lag as many companies hold off on return-to-work policies, though hints of growth are emerging.

“We do see very slow (growth,) but we do see progress week over week,” said Air Canada Chief Commercial officer Lucie Guillemette. “We’re just anxious to see the trend take a bit of a sharper turn here.”

Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were “modest” but positive for the first time in seven quarters, Rousseau noted. The company reduced its net loss by 60% year over year. And passenger revenues climbed by $1.6 billion to more than four times the year-earlier period as flight volume soared in October and November relative to 2020.

Cargo revenues also helped offset Air Canada’s losses, jumping 163% to $490 million compared with the same period a year earlier.

As e-commerce sales and demand for delivery services continued to surge, the airline in December launched its first Boeing 767 dedicated freighter, with three more expected to hit the skies this year.

Rousseau said robust advance ticket sales, which grew almost $400 million in the quarter, give the company confidence that passengers will return and that omicron has deferred, not cancelled, travel.

However, jet fuel marked one threat to profit margins. The expense rose more than threefold compared to the end of 2020 due to more trips as well as a 67% increase in the price of jet fuel, said chief financial officer Amos Kazzaz.

Despite pricier hydrocarbons and expected interest rate hikes, the rollback of travel restrictions in Canada and across the globe bodes well for Air Canada with analysts expecting the overall Canadian airline and travel sector to “truly turn the corner” this year, bolstered by rapidly strengthening demand for air travel.